Son of Neptune
by roscoe22
Summary: My version of the second Heroes of Olympus book, The Son of Neptune. Percy awakens in the Roman camp, and all he knows about himself is by what he found in his wallet. He doesn't know where he's at or how to get home. Please rad, review, and enjoy!
1. Percy

**WARNING: Do not read if you haven't read the firstbook of this series "The Lost Hero".**

Son of Neptune

I

Percy

He woke to see a blinding light hovering on the white ceiling above him. He blinked a few times readjusting to the light intensity. As he sat up he looked around the small room. The walls were a light tan color and had a few pictures hanging on them. On the far wall was a large wooden door with, what looked like, small carved pictures of ancient battle scenes engrave on the door. A dresser sat at his bed side and a window was on the opposite side of the dresser.

He stood up and walked to the window slowly. As he looked out, he saw tons of armored teenagers with golden swords sheathed at their sides, as well as large golden shields which they held at their sides. He watched as groups walked by talking but didn't hear any of the conversations. Most campers wore purple shirts and blue jeans with the exception of a few we wore what looked like… no, were actual goat legs with hooves instead of feet. He watched mystified as teenagers and goat people, he thought they were called satyr, walked by as if these goat guys were nothing out of the ordinary.

The door creaked open, and in walked a wolf followed by two of those satyr things, and three armed teenagers, about 15 or16 years old.

Instinctively, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a ball point pen. He took off the cap and the pen turned into a large bronze sword. He dropped the sword onto the ground as the two satyrs and three teens jumped in front of the wolf and posed to attack.

"Don't strike." One of them said in a loud forceful voice. "You dare strike an unarmed man?" The boy looked at each of his five attackers as they withdrew, trying to find out who spoke.

Suddenly, the wolf stepped forward and looked him square in the eye. The boy stared at the wolf in terror as the wolf put its paw on the sword that he'd dropped and slid it back to the boy's attackers. The eldest looking one picked up the sword and stood behind the wolf menacingly. She had flowing blond hair and grey eyes which were locked squarely on him. She wore a sleeveless purple shirt and blue jeans just like everyone else with the exception of a golden bracelet which she wore around her right wrist. She was tall and looked 16 or 17 years old. She somehow reminded him of someone else that he knew, but couldn't put a name to it before his stomach began to ache.

"What is your name?" asked the voice. He looked around at all the faces puzzled. No one had said anything. "Hello? Answer me!" The wolf snapped at his feet and snarled and he realized that none of the people had talked. It was the wolf.

"I… um…" He stammered. That was a good question. What _was_ his name? Much less where was he? He looked at his feet confused. "I don't know." He finished.

"Reyna, search him." The girl who held his sword walked forward and began to search.

"Spread your arms." She said sternly, and tap searched him like they would at an airport. She stopped and stuffed her hand in his left pocket pulling out his wallet. She opened it and pulled out his driver's license. "Perseus Jackson" She read. "Age 17, hometown…" She paused puzzled. "New York City, New York." She said puzzled.

The wolf froze. "Perseus?" it said under its breath. It looked up at him and cleared its throat. "Thank you Reyna. Please give Perseus back his wallet and take these four outside. I would like a word with Mr. Jackson." Reyna returned his wallet, placed Percy's sword on the ground and exited with the others following close behind her.

They watched as the door shut behind them, and as soon as it shut, the wolf turned on him. "What are you doing here Perseus?" It whispered harshly. "Who told you of this place? You put all of these people in danger coming here." He stared at the wolf startled. He didn't even know his name till now, how should he know how he got here?

"I…" he stammered. "I don't know. All I know is my name, and I didn't even know that until a few seconds ago." He answered. "Who are you?" He retorted. "Why is my being here dangerous?"

"Do not play stupid with me boy." The wolf said back. "I know who you are, and I know where you've come from. What I don't know however is what you're doing here. Who sent you? Chiron? That stupid centaur. Doesn't he know the dangers? When I talk with him next I'll…"

"What are you talking about?" Percy screamed. "I just found out who I am! I have no idea where I am even at, much less who you are. Why are there kids running around here with… with swords and shields, and armor like they could go to war at any time? Why are there satyrs…?"

"Don't raise your tone at me boy," the wolf cut in, "and don't call them satyrs, call them fauns. That's what they're called around here."

"What? I… I thought they were called satyrs." Percy said calmly.

"No." The wolf snapped. "They are called fauns." The wolf studied his face carefully eyes narrowed, and he must have looked really confused, because suddenly the wolf backed up eyes widening and saying. "You… You have really forgotten haven't you?"

Percy nodded. "Yes," he replied. "Yes I really have. That's what I've been trying to tell you. I don't remember… anything." He looked the wolf straight in the eye, holding his gaze until the wolf looked away.

"My name is Lupa." The Wolf said. "You are at Camp Augustus, named after the first emperor of Rome, a powerful demigod, though few know him as the son of Mars."

"Mars? You mean Ares?" asked Perseus. He wasn't sure why, but for some reason Mars just didn't sound right.

"No." Lupa said coldly. "I mean what I said. You should listen to my words closely Perseus, or you may become a little snack. If not for your amnesia, you would be lying on the floor right now with my fangs piercing through your flesh. Unfortunately, you have forgotten everything so I must show mercy. Killing you now would be no better than slaying an unarmed man. You live for now, but I warn you, if you cause an uproar in camp, you will regret it."

Lupa turned and exited the room glancing back only to say. "I will send someone to show you around Perseus, but I advise you to be careful. You will go through the same trials as any other camper to prove your worth, and don't expect me to show you any mercy from now on. I have warned you once. This will not happen again."

…

He sat their staring at the door for the longest time, waiting for someone to come and get him. As he sat he thought about how everything was going so far. He didn't know why he was here, much less how he'd gotten here. There was a big nasty wolf that obviously didn't like him who seemed to know all about him but wouldn't tell him anything. And he'd been waiting for who knows how long for someone who he was thinking would never come, to show him around.

Percy's brain was starting to go crazy with questions, and no one was there to help him figure anything out. As he sat around he took out his wallet again, and looked at the contents. The first thing he pulled out was a small Mighty Mart's Department Shop name tag with his name on the front of it. Next, he pulled out his license again. He studied his picture and looked at the information on it. Finally he placed that back and found a list of phone numbers on a piece of paper that said for emergency **ONLY! **He took a look at them and checked his pockets for a cell phone. He didn't find one. So that would be the first thing he'd do once he found out where he was and could find a pay phone. There was only a few on the list, and each one had a name listed next to it. The first one said Mom, followed by Stepdad, Rachel, Mr. Chase, and Annabeth.

Annabeth. That name seemed to strike a nerve, and immediately he could feel his heart start to beat a little faster. That would definitely be his first call. Whoever that was, he had a feeling that she would have some answers.

Also, next to the numbers were addresses. He scanned them and realized that all of them were in New York except for one which was in San Francisco, that was Mr. Chases, and Annabeth's which just said Camp. Percy tried to figure out what that meant. Camp. What camp? Was it in New York also? Suddenly, he really hoped that he was in New York City right now.

When he finally put that down he pulled out a wad of cash, about fifty bucks, and then… some medium sized golden coins. He took one of them, and looked at it a little closer. The coin was strange, definitely not American. First of all it was gold second…

"How'd you get that?" asked someone from the door. Percy quickly put the coin down and stood up straight. At the door stood Reyna, the girl from earlier, and she wasn't looking much nicer.

"Oh, um… hi," said Percy quickly.

"Where'd you get that?" She asked, this time a little bit harsher.

"Um… I don't know." Percy replied. "I was just looking through my wallet and I found it there. Why? What is it?"

The girl, Reyna, narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously, and studied him closely. He didn't know what was up with these people, but they all seemed so serious so… guarded in a way. First Lupa, now Reyna, and he just couldn't help but think that he didn't belong here. Finally, Reyna stopped studying him and took a step forward. "My name is Reyna." She told him, ignoring his questions all together. "Lupa has instructed me to give you a tour of the camp grounds and introduce you to some other campers." She paused, looking him over again. "Come on she said. Pick up your swo… er, pen, and let's go."

She turned and walked off without waiting for him to pick up his sword. Quickly, he grabbed his wallet stuffed it in his pocket, grabbed his sword, capped it, and waited for it to turn back into a pen before stuffing it in his pocket. Then he ran outside and looked around for Reyna. People stared at him as they walked by, talking with their friends, and whispering stuff to each other, but he didn't see Reyna in any of the groups.

"Percy." Percy looked to the right and saw Reyna there. "Hurry up. I'm not always gonna wait for you." They walked through the camp with Reyna pointing out things like the archery fields, the sword play arena, and of course the dining pavilion, but she seemed like her mind was somewhere else. Finally they made it to the cabins. There were twelve of them, arranged in a big U. "This," Reyna pointed to the first cabin, "is the cabin of Jupiter. No one… no one lives here. Anymore." Her voice lost its authoritative tone as she said that as if she was remembering a bad memory.

"What do you mean _anymore_? And I thought his name was Zeus." Percy said. Reyna's face went red with anger.

"First of all, only the Greeks call him Zeus. We are not Greek. We are Roman. Second, why I say _anymore_ is none of your business." She said harshly, and then looked away. "Let's continue the tour." She said. "This," she pointed to the second cabin across from Zeus's "is Juno's cabin. No one goes in that cabin. Ever. Juno doesn't have demigod children because she is the goddess of marriage and is married to Jupiter. Juno is fierce though, and should not be messed with. Really, she hates all demigod children. Jupiter's especially."

Juno, Percy thought. As soon as he heard the name he instantly thought Hera. He didn't know why, but every time the Roman name was said, he thought of what he thought were the Greek names. Everything seemed wrong, and the longer he thought about, the more he felt out of place. Something was missing here, and very…_wrong._

He was determined to find out what.

"And this is the cabin of Neptune." Reyna said as they arrived at the third cabin.

"Why is this one empty?" Percy asked. For some reason when he walked up to the cabin he felt a little bit more in place. Not right exactly, but still closer to where he belonged.

"Neptune," Reyna began, "is one of the Big Three."

"The Big Three?" For some reason, that sounded familiar.

"Yah, The Big Three, Jupiter, Neptune, and Pluto. They are the first three sons of Saturn and Cybele."

"Oh, you mean Kronos and Rhea the Titan lords?" Percy asked, and instantly regretted it.

Reyna's face went red with anger. "NO! I MEAN SATURN AND CYBELE!" She screamed harshly. "What is with you and calling them by their Greek names?" Reyna asked. "Have you forgotten that the Greek reign is over? The God's left Greece, and went to Rome. What don't you get about that?"

"Well, they left Rome too." Percy pointed out. "They're here in America now."

Reyna screamed loudly, and the nearby campers looked up from what they were doing and stared up at her. She glared at Percy, and for a moment he thought she was going to pull out her sword and slice him in half. Instead, she turned and stormed off into a nearby cabin, and didn't come out.

Percy stood there in the middle of the camp grounds. Kids were still staring at him, and not knowing what else to do, he stood there looking from face to face until he finally looked down at his sneakers shyly.

A group of kids from a nearby cabin walked over smiling cruelly at him. They'd come from the cabin that looked more like a military bunker. It had a barbed wire fence around it, and in the area between the fence and the cabin there was nothing, not even a blade of grass. The few windows that the cabin had had been punched out, and replaced with large jail like metal bars that went from the top of the window to the bottom part of it.

As the kids got closer, Percy got a bad feeling, and stuffed his hands in his pockets fingering his pen sword, and wallet to make sure they didn't steal it.

"Well, well," the eldest looking one said. "What do we have here?" He asked.

"What's wrong? You lost your way?" asked another one bumping into his shoulder

"Nice necklace loser," said another one, "Who made it for you, your mother? Oh no, you probably don't even know your mother seeing as you've lost your memory and all." Up till now, Percy hadn't even noticed the necklace, but now that he noticed it he saw that it had five little beads on it, each with its own little design on it. One had what looked like a green trident on it, and another had what looked like a Labyrinth on it. He almost forgot about the other kids, up until one of them grabbed at the necklace, and started to tug.

"Hey! Stop that!" yelled Percy swatting away the kid's hand as if it were just an annoying fly buzzing around. When he looked up, he looked straight into the face of the eldest kid. He looked really angry all of the sudden, and Percy got a little bit scared that he'd just asked this kid to kill him right then and there. Then Percy straightened up and looked right into the guys unwavering eyes.

One of the other kids pulled out a sword and started to walk toward Percy, when the eldest and obvious leader stuck his hand out in front of him and stopped him. "I got this." He said staring straight at Percy harshly. "You just made a big mistake boy." He said to Percy coldly.

Percy sized up the other kid, and figured he wasn't much older than him. Eighteen at most, but he did look stronger, and was a bit taller than Percy. "I'm not afraid of you." Said Percy, he knew it sounded lame, but it was the only thing he could think to say.

"Oh really?" he asked, pushing Percy to the ground. The rest of his group stood behind him staring down at Percy with cruel smiles. Percy got up quickly and pulled out his pen sword but didn't uncap it yet.

"Thor," said one of the girls from another group. "Stop it. Leave the new kid alone."

"Shut up Dakota. I got this," said Thor pulling out a golden sword. Thor was well armored, and confident. Percy however only had a pen to keep him safe. "What you gonna do?" Thor asked looking at Percy's uncapped pen. "Scribble me to death?"

"Thor, stop it." The girl said again, this time more sternly.

"Quiet Babe," Thor replied smugly. "Let Daddy do his work."

"_Babe?_" Dakota screamed. "I am not your _Babe_."

"Just leave him alone Dakota." Said another one of the girl's. "You'll never convince Thor of anything." Reluctantly Dakota turned and went back to her cabin mates.

"Now where were we?" Asked Thor turning back to Percy who stood ready with his pen out. "Oh yah, you were getting ready to scribble on me!"

"No," said Percy. "I was getting ready to fight you." Then, he pulled off his pen cap and took a fighting stance as his pen turned into a sword right before his eyes. Thor stared at it in awe as it changed from pen to sword in an instant. "Well," Percy said, "We gonna do this or not?"

Thor clenched his jaw and quickly went into an attack. Percy blocked all of his thrusts, jumping and twirling at the ones he couldn't block. Thor stayed on offense for a long time while Percy looked for an opening. Finally Thor drew back, panting and beginning to sweat and Percy took his chance. Percy swung at Thor's heavily armored chest so as not to hurt him. Thor blocked Percy's strike just in time then went back on the offensive. This went on for a long time while the other kids watched the battle expecting Percy to screw up at any seconds. He saw other kids placing bets while more kids showed up and watched the battle.

Thor's strokes were powerful and strong, but he was beginning to tire. He was getting slower and less powerful as the fight went on. At his next break Percy took permanent control. He started with a shot at Thor's legs that he quickly blocked, and then went high. As Thor blocked his shot Percy kicked him down to the ground. Thor tried to get up, but Percy put his boot on top of Thor's chest so that he couldn't get up. Then he stomped on Thor's sword hand so that he couldn't pick up his sword and attack again.

Thor lay there, shocked, looking up at Percy. He was defeated, and he knew it. Percy backed away, and Thor's face turned red with anger. As Percy turned to walk away Thor's little group came rushing toward them along with a few of the other onlookers.

"This isn't over!" Thor yelled after him. Percy turned to face him now sitting up on the ground. "You're gonna regret this!"

Percy just made his first enemy at this camp.

Two girls walked up to Percy who was sitting on the steps of the only place he felt safe.

Cabin three, the cabin of Neptune.

"Wow." One of them said, as they approached him. "That was like, really amazing."

"Yah," said the other one. "Where'd you learn to fight like that?"

Percy looked up at them from where he sat, and had to squint because the sun shone so brightly. They both looked nearly identical. Each of them had flowing brown hair that fell nicely to their shoulders with little gold highlights in their hair. They also wore so much make-up on their cheeks, lips, and eyes that they looked like Barbie dolls, with their flowing red, sleeveless dresses, and designer boots.

They were both beautiful.

"I don't know." Percy said, answering the second girls question. "I don't know… _anything._" He continued.

"Oh, yeah," the first girl said, "we forgot."

"You forgot?" Percy said. "When did you ever know?"

"Everyone knows," replied the second girl. "You're the talk of the camp." She said as the other one nodded in agreement.

"How'd you find out?" Percy asked, a little upset that everyone knew that his brain was pretty much fried.

"Like I said," said the second girl, "you're the talk f the camp. _I _heard it from Sylvia, who heard it from Jennie, who heard it from Cassandra, who heard it from…"

"Okay. I don't need to know the names of _everyone _in camp." Percy cut in. The girl looked surprised by his reply, and he started to regret it. Why was he being so hostile to everyone? "Sorry," he said to the girl "I'm just a little… shaken up. How long have I been asleep?" He asked the girls.

"Three days, "the first girl answered instantaneously. "We found you on the Big Hill the three days ago just outside our camp. We weren't sure how you'd gotten here, or how you'd survived on your own this long. Most kids start coming here when they're two or three, but you came much later. You're lucky. I've got a good feeling about you though."

A third girl came by and joined the group. It was the same girl who'd tried to keep Thor from fighting him before. She didn't look the same as the other girls though. She had a sneakier look to her that made me want to keep my hands in my pocket so that she doesn't take anything from me.

"Um… You're Dakota right?" asked Percy as she joined in the group.

"Yes, and you are?"

"Percy, Percy Jackson, I am 17 years old and from New York City where I work at a Mighty Mart. Besides that however, I don't remember anything about my past so you now know as much as I do."

"You're 17?" asked Dakota obviously shocked.

"Yeah, why?"

"Well… most kids don't last past being 13 on their own, especially when they are a demigod." She answered still shocked. "And you don't remember anything from your past? Not even where you got that sword of yours?"

"No, I didn't even remember my name until Reyna pulled out my wallet and read it off of my license for me." At this, the others cracked a smile. "Speaking of which," he continued. "When I was looking through my wallet, I found a list of phone numbers. Do any of you have a cell I could borrow so that maybe I could find some answers about my past?" Their smiles faded when he said this, and Dakota looked like she'd just seen a ghost.

"We don't have cell phones here Percy. They attract monsters and put us all in danger." Dakota replied.

"Oh… Sorry." Percy said a little disappointed. How was he ever going to figure his stuff out if he didn't even have a cell phone? Percy sat there in silence thinking about this when one of the first two girls asked him to follow them so that they could finish the tour that Reyna never finished.

"Reyna's been a bit… edgy since Jason left," said the first girl after they walked around a little bit.

"Whose Jason?" asked Percy when the girls said that.

"Jason is another one of our friends," said Dakota after a small silence. "Although, Reyna's had her eye on him since he defeated Krios in the Titan war and saved her from a Cyclops who was getting ready to cook her up. Jason made it obvious that he wasn't interested though, but I think that's just because he thought she only liked him because he saved her life."

"Oh ok. She kind of snapped at me when I brought it up. I guess that makes sense though." Percy wondered if anyone out there was that upset about his disappearance. Suddenly, he felt kind of jealous of this Jason guy.

"So," began one of the other girls, "did you find any more info in your wallet?"

"Hazel! Don't ask him something so… personal. What's in his wallet is his business!" said the other girl.

"Shut up Gwendolyn, he doesn't care!" Hazel replied. "Do you care Percy?"

"Excuse them," said Dakota puling Percy away. "They're daughters of Venus, the goddess of…"

"Love," Percy finished. "I know, like Aphrodite."

"Uh… yeah, Aphrodite, right. That's the Greek name though. We don't use those names though. We only use the Roman names. Lupa doesn't… approve of us saying the Greek names."

"Reyna was the same way," Percy said remembering how he stormed off after calling the Titans Saturn and Cybele, Kronos and Rhea. "What's the big deal with that anyway? Reyna said something about the Gods moving out of Greece and that Era being over. Then I said that they left Rome to, and she stormed off." Dakota cracked a smile again and even laughed a little bit.

"You're funny," She said then turned and began walking again. Percy followed.

"So… who's your god parent then?" Percy asked to continue the conversation.

"I am the daughter of Mercury," She said. "Hermes is the Greek name." She whispered afterward with a wink. Percy grinned when she said this.

"Yah," he replied, "I know."

They stood there and held each other's gaze for a while until Percy looked away awkwardly and cleared his throat. "So… um… the tour … we should continue the tour."

"Yah… right," Dakota said looking away. "So, this is the campfire grounds. We'll be here later tonight to sing some songs like we do every Tuesday and Thursday. Hopefully you'll be claimed there. Then we'll know what cabin to put you in for tomorrow."

"What's tomorrow?" asked Percy.

"Tomorrow is the gladiator games. Each cabin sends two or three champions to the ring to fight the other cabins champions."

"What? They just fight each other?"

"Yah, Don't worry though. Whatever cabin you are in probably won't put you into the games. You still haven't trained even though you obviously don't need to."

"Yah, I don't know how, but I just… knew. Kind of like how I knew the names of all the Greek gods. It's just… there."

"Wow. Do you think other things will come to you like that?"

"I don't know. It might help if I knew where I was. If I could get back to New York I'm sure I could find some answers."

"Well, if it helps, you are in Camp Augustus, in San Francisco, California."

"Well… it's not New York, but at least I know where I am now." Percy said a little disappointed, although he felt like that may not be such a bad thing.

"Well, I'm sure we can figure something out." Dakota said reassuringly.

"Maybe, if I could get out of camp then I'd be able to get over there somehow."

"I don't think that is gonna happen," Dakota replied. "Lupa's really strict about this, and unless you go on a mission, or have permission to leave. Then you aren't getting' back in." Percy pondered this for a while. "Tell you what," Dakota began again, "how about you wait till the campfire, before you do anything to rash."

"Okay," Percy agreed, "I'll do that."

**Please rate without holding anything back. Please point out what you liked and didn't like as well as this is my first Fan fic, and I would love to see what the general public thinks of my writing. This is NOT the actual first chapter of this book however, only my idea of what it will be. Thank you, and enjoy. **


	2. The Son of Neptune

II

Percy

Percy walked to the Dining pavilion with his new friends Hazel, Dakota, and Gwendolyn. When they got there, Hazel and Gwendolyn branched off to go sit at the Venus tale with their siblings, but Dakota and Percy kept walking until they reached the table at the far end for the children of Mercury. Percy sat next to Dakota on the edge of the long bench. After a short wait, the wolf, Lupa, entered from behind a large bonfire, in the middle of the pavilion. Lupa walked majestically to a table filled with satyrs, or fauns as they were called here, and other strange creatures that didn't live in the demigods' cabins.

When Lupa got to her table and sat down, the kids at his table all stood up and started walking to the bonfire in the center of the pavilion. Percy followed unsure of what to do until he saw others scraping off little pieces of meat or grapes and whispering a prayer of thanks to their God parent before heading back and sitting down.

"Um… Thanks," Percy whispered to the fire when he got to the front. "I, uh, don't know who you are, but…"

"_Yes, you do Perseus,_" replied a voice when he whispered this. Percy jumped back startled and looked around for the source of the voice. Everyone stared at him confused. "_Think son. I am your father,_" the voice said. Percy felt like someone was scratching his brain, and trying to get in but he still couldn't remember a thing. For a split second he remembered a picture of a tall, handsome man wearing khaki shorts and a fishing hat, but that quickly went away as a major headache replaced it and his mind went totally blank.

…

When Percy opened his eyes again, he was looking up at a wooden ceiling directly above him, and hundreds of confused faces looking down at him. He recognized Dakota's bewildered face and quickly sat up. He looked around and found that he had collapsed in the middle of the pavilion in front of everyone else, and he felt like he was going to puke.

"Wha… What happened?" he asked as a couple of campers helped him stand up.

"I don't know," Dakota said, "you just collapsed right in the middle of giving your offering to the gods. You've been down for a couple minutes."

"I have?" Percy looked around and found that he'd been lying on a couple of grapes and had a barbecue lamb leg on his chest.

"Yah you have," Dakota replied. "Right before you collapsed though, you like, jumped. You looked like you'd just seen a ghost or something."

Percy started to remember again. The voice. "I… I heard a voice, and then saw a man, and then… It all went blank."

"What did the man look like?" asked Dakota. "What was he wearing?"

"Um… he was tall," Percy began struggling to remember. "That's all I can remember." He finished, unsatisfied with himself.

"Was he holding anything?" asked Dakota.

"Um… I don't remember, I think he was wearing a fishing hat."

Dakota was about to say something else when Lupa cut her off and asked everyone to return to their seats. Percy walked to the Mercury table and sat back down. Dakota was white faced as if there was something she wanted to say, but didn't think she should. They ate in silence and didn't talk again until dinner was over and Reyna came by to join the group along with a boy named Bobby. Reyna seemed to have calmed down since the last time he'd seen her, or at least she didn't seem like she wanted to kill him anymore, which was an improvement.

"Wazzup?" asked the boy, Bobby, when he came by. "Hey look its Humpty Dumpty!" he said when he saw Percy. "Glad to see you survived your "Big Fall"!" he said laughing, referring to when he collapsed in front of everybody.

Bobby was a short kid, and not as strong as some of the other kids. He wore the same purple shirt and blue jeans that everyone else wore, and carried a bow along with a few arrows with him. At his side he had a sheathed sword, and a knife attached to his belt. He had orange fiery hair, and freckles all on his face and on his arms.

"Ignore Bobby," Hazel said, "he's the son of Apollo the god of poetry. Most of the Apollo members are good at archery or poetry, but he's not good at either so he just refers to poems and stuff like that."

"Shut up Hazel, you're just jealous of my awesomeness!" Bobby retorted.

"Yah… that's it," she replied rolling her eyes.

"See, no one can deny how awesome I am! I knew you'd cave eventually." He replied happily with a sly grin.

"Whatever Bobby, that's not what she meant and you know it," said Gwendolyn.

"I know nothing of the sort," Bobby replied.

"Your right, you _don't _know anything," Gwendolyn retorted with a smile. Everyone laughed at this. Percy smiled a bit too. He was starting to look forward to the campfire tonight. Percy was getting more and more anxious to find out who his parent was, and maybe remember a little bit more from his previous life. Percy was also wondering about that voice he heard during dinner.

"So what time is the campfire?" Percy asked his new friends.

"Someone's a bit anxious to find out who their god parent is!" Bobby said. "You think you're gonna be a kid of the Big Three?" Bobby asked teasingly.

"Shut up Bobby!" Dakota said. "You know that's impossible!"

"Why is it impossible?" asked Percy. "Why wouldn't I be a part of the Big Three?"

"Because of the old great prophecy," Reyna said.

"What's the great prophecy?" asked Percy.

Reyna began…

"A half-blood of the eldest gods shall reach sixteen against all odds.  
And see the world in endless sleep, the hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap."

Reyna stopped talking when she saw Percy again. "Percy? Are you okay?" she asked him. Percy looked confused. "Percy?" Reyna shook him by the shoulders and his head snapped up. "What's wrong?" she asked. For a while he just stared at her, and then he finally snapped into the present.

"I… I know that prophecy," he said slowly.

"What… but how could you?" Reyna began. "You just…"

Percy stopped her before she could go on. "I know this prophecy," he repeated, and then ended it.

"A single choice shall end his days.  
Olympus to preserve or raze."

Everyone satthere staring at him.

"How did you…?" Dakota began, and then cut off not seeming to be able to find the words to finish her question.

"I don't know how I knew it," Percy answered. "It's just… _there._ Kind of like how knowing the Greek names for each of the Gods, it just _is_." Everyone stood there in silence, pondering this. Then, Bobby gasped loudly and everyone looked at him. "What?" asked Percy.

"I know what you are!" Bobby said eyes wide.

"What?" asked Percy curiously.

"You are… an oracle!" Bobby exclaimed. Everyone cracked a smile, and even Percy smiled a bit at that.

"Leave it to Bobby to lighten a crowd," said Dakota matter-of-factly. Bobby still wasn't convinced though.

"What?" Bobby asked. "It's true!" he exclaimed. "How else would you describe him tellin' the future and stuff?"

"Yah, what if he's right?" asked Hazel. "What if he's, like... a future teller guy?"

"Well first of all," Dakota began, "that prophecy is over, so it won't really be the future. Second of all, Percy cannot be an oracle."

"Why not Dakota? What if he _is _an oracle?" asked Gwendolyn obviously into the idea.

"He is not an oracle," Dakota repeated. "Come on Reyna, a little help here?"

"She's right. He's not an oracle. We already have an oracle. It wouldn't make sense." Bobby opened his mouth to speak again, but the only sound that came was a loud horn being blown somewhere in camp.

"Campfire time," Dakota said. "Come on Percy, I'll show you where to go." Dakota grabbed his arm and pulled him along quickly behind her. Percy wasn't sure, but he thought he heard the others snickering behind them. As they got closer to the campfire ring, they slowed down and more and more people began to fill the path. Dakota swiveled her way through the crowd with Percy close behind her.

When they finally got to the campfire area, they saw a large semi-circle of benches split into three different sections around a central fire. Behind the fire a gentle stream flowed in and out of view from the firelight. On the opposite side of the stream Percy saw a large forest area where kids go for fight practice. Dakota told him once that there were real monsters to fight in the forest, but he wasn't sure whether he should believe her or not. Although, at the same time, he wasn't sure he wanted to know.

Dakota led him to one of the middle rows in the second section. "This way everyone will be able to see you when you get claimed by your god parent," she told him as they sat down.

They waited for more campers to show up, and watched the flames rise as new campers arrived. Percy looked around and saw Bobby, Hazel, Gwendolyn, and Reyna arrive and start heading toward them. As he watched them come down he felt a hand grab his shoulder and a hot breath make the hairs on the back of his neck rise.

"Hello, buddy," said an all too familiar voice.

"What do you want Thor?" Dakota asked harshly.

"Oh hey baby. How you doin'? This kid givin' you a hard time?" Thor asked

Dakota rolled her eyes at him annoyed. "Come on Thor do you really want to get beat again?" she asked.

"Just leave him alone Dakota!" said Reyna who'd just made it down to where he and Dakota were sitting. "You know you can't convince him of anything. His skull is too thick to get anything though it."

"Shut up Reyna! Go back to your cabin and cry about Jason again!" Thor said.

Reyna turned red and Thor smiled a little bit. Bobby grabbed Reyna's shoulders and told her to calm down. She took a deep breath and then sat down. From behind the campfire, Lupa showed up and instantly the crowd hushed and sat. Even the crickets went silent at the sight of Lupa. Lupa walked to the front and stood at the front of the crowd in silence. Lupa then raised her head, and everyone stood and the few that wore jackets pulled up their sleeves and revealed a tattoo that Percy had never noticed before. The tattoos all said SPQR and had an animal which he guessed were the animal signs of their God parent as Reyna had an owl on hers, and each of the Venus girls had a dove, and so on.

"_Salvete Senatus Populusque Romanus__,_" Lupa said. Percy recognized it as Latin, but didn't completely understand what she'd said. He understood the Rome part, but nothing else.

"_Salutat vos et Lupa, senatui populoque Romano__,_" the kids said in return. They sounded like robots, saying it all in unison.

"_Filii sede Romana__,_" Lupa said. Everyone sat down but kept eye contact with Lupa the whole time. "There is a new comer amongst you children of Rome!" Lupa said when everyone was seated. No one spoke or let their eyes stray away from Lupa, the just sat there as if in a daze.

"Perseus Jackson, arise and show the people of Rome who you are," Lupa said staring straight at Percy. Percy stood slowly, and all eyes turned toward him. No one spoke to him, or waved, or acknowledged him besides looking at him. He was beginning to feel awkward when Lupa began to speak again. "Perseus," she said, "come down and join me by the fire." Percy hesitated; he was right in the middle of the row and would have to crawl over lots of people to get out. When he turned left to exit, everyone in his way immediately stood, and looked straight ahead.

No one looked at Percy as he left the row and descended the stairs toward Lupa. The whole camp suddenly became a lot more serious, and he was beginning to feel sick. The walk to Lupa seemed like it was hours long, and he felt like he was walking down the up escalator and wasn't going anywhere. When he finally got to Lupa, he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do. Lupa stared at him hard, and began to talk again. "You have completed the first step to becoming a child of Rome, Perseus, coming here, alive. To have survived 17 years on your own is most impressive, however your journey is not yet complete. While here you will be put to the test. If you show any sign of weakness, I will not hesitate to eat you, as I have eaten many demigods in the past." Percy was suddenly more eager to leave the camp and find a phone, but still wasn't sure how. Then he looked up at the kids in the bleachers around the campfire, and caught sight of Dakota and his new friends. He couldn't leave yet. He couldn't just leave his friends behind like this.

When Percy looked back at Lupa, her gaze was hard, and her face expressionless. "If you are up to the challenges you will face here say so now, or else… you'll become my little snack."

Percy hesitated, and then said, "Yes. I am up to the challenge." Lupa looked a little disappointed; as if she was hoping he would say no instead.

"Very well," she said, "your training will begin in the morning. Now go back to your seat." Percy turned and walked back up the stairs and to his seat. Everyone remained silent, and as soon as he was seated, Lupa began to speak again in Latin.

"_Principes ortus Rome egressus me__,_" Lupa said and eight people rose from the crowd and walked to the front. Reyna was among them, along with Thor.

As they walked forward, Percy leaned toward Dakota, and as quietly as he could, whispered, "What is Lupa saying?" Dakota ignored him, not dropping her gaze from Lupa. The only change that Percy saw was her face turn white as chalk, and she sat up a little straighter. Percy looked back at Lupa, and saw that her gaze was locked on him, her expression cold. Had she heard him whisper? How could she have heard that?

In his head he heard Lupa's voice say, "_Silence Perseus._" He wasn't sure if she was talking to him telepathically, or if it was just in his head, but something told him that he'd better shut up, or he was going to become Lupa's new favorite puppy chow.

The eight people who had risen from the crowd a second ago, had made it to the campfire, and were now standing shoulder to shoulder facing the crowd at attention. "Children of the Gods, and leaders of the cabins, what news do you bring to _Senatus Populusque Romanus_?" Lupa asked, and the first girl stepped up.

"Cabin four, the cabin of Ceres, has nothing to report," the first girl announced and then got back in line, the next one in line, Thor, then stepped up.

"Cabin five, the cabin of Mars," he said loudly and forcefully, "has nothing to report." Thor then stepped back in line and the next person stepped up. Each person followed the same order, until they got to the end of the line. Once they the last person spoke, Lupa stepped up and said something to them silently. Then all of them headed back to their seats.

When they had all made it back, Lupa turned to the crowd. "Children of Rome," Lupa announced, "I have no knew news from Olympus. If anyone wishes to make a challenge, do so now." Percy wondered what she meant by making a challenge, but didn't have enough time to think, because just as Lupa said this, a shadow rose from behind him.

Percy looked behind him, and saw that Thor had stood up behind him, and was looking at Lupa.

Lupa looked at him, and said, "Thor, son of Mars, do you wish to make a challenge?"

Thor nodded and said, "Yes."

"Whom do you wish to challenge?" Lupa asked him.

"I wish to challenge Perseus Jackson," Thor replied. Percy let this sink in, and then his heart sank as he realized what Lupa meant by challenge.

Thor was challenging him to a duel.

Percy thought he could see a hint of a smile on Lupa's face, as she looked to him. "Do you Perseus accept Thor's challenge?" Lupa asked.

Percy looked at Thor and saw that he was smiling now wickedly. For a second Percy thought about declining the challenge, but then Lupa's words rang in his mind. _If you show any sign of weakness, I will not hesitate to eat you, as I have eaten many demigods in the past. _Percy was scared to find out if declining Thor's challenge would show weakness in him, and wasn't sure if he wanted to find out.

Percy stood and in his best voice said, "I accept Thor's challenge."

"Come Thor, son of Mars, and Perseus Jackson." Percy took a deep breath, and then turned to exit the row. He walked down to the fire just as he did before, all eyes on him. When he finally got to Lupa, he turned to face the crowd. Percy was nervous, when he'd fought Thor before Thor had fought him out of anger. Now, Thor was fighting for revenge, and Percy had a feeling he would be more prepared.

"Prepare to fight." Lupa shouted when Thor got down there.

Thor faced Percy with a mean smile on his face. Percy looked at Thor as well, and prepared to fight. Thor unsheathed his sword, and Percy uncapped his pen. Then Thor raised his shield and adjusted his armor. Percy didn't have any armor, or a shield. He just stood there, sword pointed at Thor.

"Thor, son of Mars, are you ready to fight?" Lupa asked. Thor nodded, and gave a loud growl. "Perseus Jackson, are you ready to fight?" Lupa asked. Percy nodded slowly, and swallowed. "May the best man, win!" Lupa announced, and moved from between them.

As soon as Lupa was out of the way, Thor struck hard. Percy was barely able to get his sword up in time to block the shot. Thor's smile widened when he saw Percy's panicked face. He pulled back again, and took a swing toward Percy's legs. But Percy was ready now. He jumped, but Thor shifted and thrust his sword upward. The sword grazed Percy's arm, and Percy felt pain ripple through his arm, and to his brain.

Percy cried out in pain, and crouched to the ground ducking under Thor's sword. _ Ok, _he thought, _mom… or dad, whichever one of you is my God parent. Please help me out a bit here. _He stood up, and blocked another one of Thor's strikes. He ducked under the next one, and then swiveled out of the way of the one after that. Thor and Percy circled each other for a while, and then Thor swung for his legs again.

Percy jumped over Thor's sword, but when he landed Thor smashed his shield into him. Percy flew back, and landed flat on his back. Thor struck down at him, but Percy rolled over on the ground and then stood. _You know, I don't _need _help. _Percy thought to his god parent bitterly. _You can just abandon me instead. That's cool. _Percy stood there looking at Thor… alone. His god parent apparently didn't care whether or not he died.

"_But I do care,_" said a voice. Percy only had a second to process this before Thor swung at him again. Percy blocked his thrust, and then ducked around him.

_Then where are you now?_ He asked. _I don't see you helping me out._ He blocked another hard hit from Thor, and struck at Thor's sword arm. He barely scratched Thor's arm, but it was enough to draw blood. Thor's face turned red, and he struck wildly at Percy. Percy blocked his strike.

"_I'm closer than you think!_" the voice said. "_Look around, listen, and you will find me."_

Percy was suddenly confused. He looked around, but didn't see anything unusual. He listened, but all he could hear was the crackle of the fire, the water rushing down the stream, and then… the sound of a battle cry from behind him. He turned, and saw Thor rushing toward him. Percy tried to get out of the way, but was too slow. Thor's sword hit him in the sword arm, and blood rushed out of his arm.

He dropped his sword too weak to hold it anymore, and ducked to avoid getting hit again. He backed up out of range from Thor, but tripped over something. He fell backwards, and landed hard on his back.

He looked around frantically, he was weaponless, and had no way to get to his sword. He heard the stream behind him, and turned toward it. He left his weapon behind, and ran towards the water. He got there, and didn't know why, but he felt safer, stronger, almost as if he could fight a hundred battles and would never tire. He looked at his wounds, and as shocked.

They were healing before his eyes!

He stood there in the water and searched the ground for his sword. It was on the ground behind Thor. He wouldn't be able to reach it in time. Thor had almost reached him.

Percy wasn't sure what he was supposed to do, but he didn't have many options. He just did what felt natural. He closed his eyes, and the water seemed to move more rapidly at his feet. He concentrated on the water closely, and took a deep breath. He felt a tug in his stomach, and the water sped up. When he opened his eyes, he saw Thor about two feet away now, Percy lifted his arms, flowing with the water, and the water at his fingertips lifted with him. Thor stopped running, and looked confused. Then Percy threw his arms forward, and Thor's eyes widened as water rushed towards him. Thor flew back, and landed on the ground hard. He backed away from Percy quickly, never looking away. Percy ran toward him, grabbed his sword, and pinned him to the ground, his sword pointed at Thor's neck.

Thor was defeated.

Lupa walked forward, and looked at them both. She didn't seem shocked at all. "Rise Perseus Jackson!" she announced. He got off of Thor and looked at the crowd. Everyone looked shocked.

Thor got up, and glared at Percy, but somehow didn't seem so shocked. Thor walked up to Percy and Lupa, and shook Percy's hand, accepting his loss. His grip was light, and when he let go, he backed away.

"Our champion," Lupa announced to the crowd loudly, "is Perseus Jackson, the Son of Neptune!"


End file.
